


Prowl and the Five Huntsmen

by TheBigLoserQueen



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Attempted Murder, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Genderbending, Het, Magic, Other, Polyamory, Romance, Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:39:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9307805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: Prowl has to run away from her kingdom when she learns her stepmother wants her dead. Thankfully, a group of huntsmen take her in.





	1. Chapter 1

Prowl softly sang to herself as she went to go fetch water from the well. Being a scullery maid was definitely not an easy task, but after doing this for years, she had grown used to it. Besides, she had been able to make friends with plenty of the castle’s staff during her years working as a maid. It wasn’t a lonely position.

And it was also a position where she didn’t have to interact with the queen much; only very rarely did Queen Flux call Prowl to her chambers. Which was fine, Prowl didn’t care much for her stepmother. Flux was a beautiful woman, though vain and self-centered, carrying little about the people or even her own husband and stepchild. The only reason why her father ever married that noblewoman was because her mother had died giving birth to her. And no king could be without a queen, his advisors said.

Then her father passed away when she had turned four. After that, her stepmother took over the kingdom. There was little Prowl could do to stop her from carrying out her harsh orders, being only a child, but she tried her best to be nice to the people who had been made poor by her cruel stepmother. As she grew older, she did her best to attempt to override the queen’s orders that was leaving their kingdom bankrupt, but she didn’t always succeed.

And then, one day, when Prowl was just fourteen, she went from being a princess to being another helper around the house. And since the staff feared the queen, they couldn’t say no to Prowl being forced to help them.

Fortunately, they were kind to her and helped her learn how to cook and clean and do various chores around the castle. Prowl found that she actually didn’t mind doing chores either; it was certainly much more entertaining than just sitting in her room all day and reading book after book after book. Not to mention being around other people helped her feel less lonely.

She placed her bucket on the hook before slowly lowering the bucket down into the well. She heard footsteps behind her, but didn’t turn. She knew who it was.

“Good afternoon, Your Highness.”

“Good afternoon, Jazz.”

Jazz around only a little older than her, but was the head huntsman of the kingdom. While he did wish he didn’t have to serve the queen, she paid him well. After all, he had two younger brothers to feed and clothe and send to school. He couldn’t afford to be picky about where he wanted to work. He had even worked up to being her most favorite huntsman, usually sending him out whenever she needed anything.

Prowl was just glad that Jazz was not wicked like her stepmother. In fact, Jazz was one of the kindest men she knew. He was friendly, talkative, and a good friend to her and many others. And even though he should have been talking care of the hunting dogs, he would always find time to come and chat with her.

“What’s the water for?” he asked, taking a hold of the rope and gently nudging her away.

“I can do it myself, Jazz.”

“Come on, you know a princess shouldn’t be doing chores. You should be ruling and taking harp lessons.”

“My stepmother-”

“Forget about her,” he chuckled, pulling the now full bucket up for her.

Before she could reach to take it, he had already grabbed it and wouldn’t hand it over to her. She would have been annoyed if she didn’t know that this was just how he was. If he was ever around while she was doing chores, he would either do them for her or just help her out with them. He never thought that it was right for her to be doing the servants’ work just because the queen for whatever reason didn’t like her.

A year ago, Jazz had offered to take her somewhere. Any neighboring kingdom with a king or prince looking for a wife so she didn’t have to a servant in her own castle anymore. But she had declined. Even if she were to run away, it wasn’t as if her problems would be over. She didn’t want to marry some stranger. Besides, this land was hers and one day, the queen would eventually pass away. Even though she was made to act like a scullery maid, she was still a princess and the still the rightful ruler to the throne. Once it was her time to rule, she would undo all the evils her stepmother had caused for the land.

With a small sigh, she walked over to the windows as Jazz followed her. She picked up one of the rags she was carrying, only to soak it into the bucket of water before moving it to the window. Jazz picked up the second one and began to do the same.

“Shouldn’t you be looking over the dogs?”

“It’s all good, Smokescreen’s watching them for me.”

“You know he spoils them too much.”

“Nah, they’re fine. They deserve a little break every now and then.”

Prowl gave a soft laugh before turning back to the window and concentrated on cleaning. Even though her situation wasn’t the best, it certainly wasn’t the worst. She could survive being a scullery maid for a little while longer. 

* * *

From her bedroom window, Flux watched her stepdaughter and the huntsman with her eyes narrowed. Prowl was proving to be more and more of a thorn in her side than she had anticipated. Even though every day she was worked like a dirty commoner, forced to wear dirty brown clothes, clean up all around the house with the other servants, get up early before the sun even rose, hardly had any free time, she did not grow bitter. And she did not grow any uglier. She was not hardened or aged before her time. She was still pretty with skin still fair, hair still smooth and bright, and face still soft. The people had even nicknamed her “Snow White!” 

Fools, she thought as she turned away from the window, shutting the curtains. They didn’t know better. They were just the ignorant masses, unable to understand true beauty. They didn’t have the mirror, unlike her.

It belonged in her family for centuries, having been passed to the oldest daughter of each generation. It was a magic mirror, only those gifted with the art of magic able to use it. Everyone always assumed witches were ugly old hags; what a foolish thought. Why would someone with the ability to control the uncontrollable allow themselves to get to such a disgusting state?

She would never let herself get like that. All her life, she had been a gorgeous woman. And she intended to continue to be not only beautiful, but the most beautiful of them all. It was how she got to where she was now. The king never would have married her if she was only second-best. And the mirror had been the one to assure her every day that, indeed, she was still the fairest of them all.

With a wave of her hands, she commanded to the mirror, “Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space, through wind and darkness I summon thee!”

A rumbling noise came from the mirror. As if a storm was trapped inside of it, it moaned and groaned as clouds and thunder swirled inside of it. A pale, soulless face soon came into view, more of a white mask than a human face.

“Speak!” she said. “Let me see thy face.”

“What wouldst thou know, My Queen?”

As if it didn’t already know, but she knew how this went. She had been doing it for years now. “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

“Famed is thy beauty, Majesty,” it said. But before Flux could dismiss the mirror, it spoke again. “But hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee.

Flux’s eyes widened. Someone else? More fair than her? Impossible! She had taken good care to make sure she was the most beautiful! “Reveal her name.”

“Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.”

Horror came over her as realization dawned on her. Turning away from the mirror, she stormed over to the window to throw open the curtains. There, still cleaning the windows with Jazz, stood the princess in tattered clothes, with her hair wet and tied up, with sweat on her forehead as she smiled as Jazz told another joke. 

No. No, it couldn't be true! Prowl had been demoted to the status of a maid! She had to work hard and work long hours. She shouldn't have been able to keep up appearances. Her hands should have been ruined by the soap and water. Her hair should have grown coarse. Her skin should have become rough and dry. She couldn't have been more beautiful than her!

Her hands balled into fists. It was bad enough that the brat had been able to take away her husband's attention from her when she was a child. She would not allow the girl to be more beautiful than her. Flux prided herself in her beauty and she would be damned before some princess in rags could take that away from her.

She had to act quickly. And by the next time she spoke to the mirror, she would once again be the fairest of them all.


	2. Chapter 2

Jazz had been summoned to the throne room that evening while Prowl had gone to the kitchen to help out the cooks with preparing supper. He had been curious as to why the queen wanted to see him. And so late at night too... But he knew better than to question Queen Flux. Her commands were absolute in her kingdom and anyone who went against them would be punished with death. He was lucky she favored him so much; he didn't have to fear her wrath as badly as many others did.

"Good evening, Your Majesty," he said, bowing before her.

"Raise your head. I have a task for you."

He nodded. Perhaps she wanted him to go on yet another hunting trip. She tended to have guests over a lot, generally young suitors who she would entertain and have her way with. And what better way to make a first impression on a suitor than to present him with a delicious feast and a great buck for dinner?

"Tomorrow, you will take Prowl into the forest," she instructed. "Far from the castle, out in the fields where she can pick flowers or read, I do not care which."

He kept his face neutral, but his confusion didn't go away. Why was she bringing up Prowl? Unless maybe she was afraid that the suitors that were coming might see Prowl and want to marry her instead. The jealous queen never could stand anyone who took the attention away from her... And since Prowl was so beautiful, it wasn't as if the idea wasn't implausible. 

"And once you have her alone, kill her."

Jazz's heart stopped as his skin grew cold. It took all of his willpower to not look up in horror at the Queen from those orders. Primus, this couldn’t be happening. He had feared something like this. He had always thought that the Queen might try to get rid of his dear friend, but like this?  Surely the Queen would know the consequences of just ordering her stepdaughter's death without probably cause? No trumped up charges of treason or something?

But no, he had just heard her order him to kill Prowl.

"Y-Your Majesty, you can't just-!"

"I am the queen; I may do whatever I wish."

"But she's the princess-!"

"Silence!" she barked, standing up and throwing her hand up. “You know the law. Disobey my command and you will be swiftly punished… Or perhaps your brothers may face the consequences of your failure?”

It was as if his bones had turned to jelly. He couldn’t feel his feet, a wave of nauseous coming over him. This… This bitch was serious. She was giving him no choice but to kill his dear friend, the precious princess. And who was to say she wouldn’t frame him for murder if word got out that the princess had been killed? There would be an outcry and someone would have to take the fall… And he would be the one to do it.

But if he didn’t carry out this order… His brothers. His dear little twin brothers who were barely eleven would pay the price for his disobedience. And the queen was as cruel as she was beautiful; the torture she would force upon his brothers would be excruciating. They would welcome death when she finally decided to have them executed. And they were merely children…

His hands balled into fists. He didn’t have a choice. As much as he cherished Prowl, he couldn’t let the queen hurt his brothers. He just couldn’t…

“Yes… Your Majesty,” Jazz muttered, his voiced wrapped with rage and sorrow.

Flux smiled. But before she dismissed him, she reached behind her throne and presented a very detailed and beautiful large box. Jazz was confused for a moment, wondering if the woman was going to offer him a reward for this sick command.

“As proof that you do not fail, you will come back with her heart in this box.”

He felt ready to vomit. Not only did she want him to kill his dear friend, but she also wanted him to cut out her heart. And if he couldn’t do it, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker would pay the price.

“… Yes, Your Majesty.”

And all Jazz could do was accept the box with a heavy heart before he left the throne room. There was no way he would be able to eat or sleep tonight. Primus, tomorrow… tomorrow he would have no choice. There was nothing he could do. And he would commit a sin he would never be able to atone for, even if it was to protect the only family he had left. All because of a selfish, cruel woman’s whim.

Primus have mercy on his soul. 

* * *

Prowl was shocked when she had woken up that morning. The Queen had called her down to have her join her for breakfast. She had even told her to dress up and that she could go out into the fields for the entire day. Apparently it was too nice of a day for her to be wasting away time with chores. It was strange, considering her stepmother was never this kind towards her or anyone else really. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had even shared a meal with her.

She was suspicious, but didn’t voice anything. Instead, she thanked the queen and after breakfast, she put on a simple light summer gown. She was grateful that Jazz was going to be the one accompanying her. At least she would have someone to chat with.

Still, when they had gotten to the open fields, she was surprised to see how quiet Jazz was. He wasn't animated at all and seemed to be distracted by something. And when she had asked him what the issue was, he didn't really answer. She had to figure that the queen perhaps said something to him. She wouldn't have been surprised; Flux could be quite cruel.

But she decided not to think about it for now. Instead, she walked out into the fields and decided to pick some flowers. The old cook said that his wife was a fan of tulips; she could easily pick some for her while she was out here. She could always read the book she had brought with her later, since she would have the entire day to herself.

She heard a whine in the distance, causing her to perk up. And when she heard it again, coming from a thick crowd of bushes, she gently set down the flowers and made her way over towards the noise. Jazz followed behind her, probably ready to protect her in necessary. Carefully, just in case it was dangerous, she slowly approached the thick bushel before leaning over to see what the noise was.

Prowl's eyes widened. Sitting there, with his face covered in dirt with blood on his paw, was a mountain dog whimpering in pain. By its size, it had to have been a Caucasian Shepherd… Only hunters in the mountains had dogs like these. Not even Jazz or the other huntsmen had a dog this impressive.

And when it looked to her, it didn't growl. It simply whined louder and shrank back, as if afraid of her. Oh... the poor thing. Considering it was such a big dog, she had to guess that it tried sneaking onto a farmer's land to get something to eat. No doubt it was chased away and hurt in the process. Unsurprisingly, when she took a step forward, it growled at her, inching back.

"Don't worry," she said gently, slowly coming towards it. "I won't hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

The dog whined harder, flinching back as Prowl moved her hand towards him.

“Don’t worry,” she repeated, giving a soft smile. She slowly reached behind its head and placed it down on its back. The dog flinched, but didn’t do anything. Slowly, she began to gently pet it as she tried to calm him down. “There, it’s all right. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. No need to be scared.”

The dog slowly seemed to relax, even allowing her to move her hand to his face to wipe off the dirt. He didn’t even flinch when she brought up a handkerchief to wipe away the blood on his paw.

"Did someone hurt you? Are you hungry?"

Whimpering, the dog bowed its head as Prowl finished wiping the blood off its paw. 

"It's fine.  Don't worry.  Jazz and I brought some cured meat for lunch.  I’ll give you some of that."

The dog whimpered again.  Primus, how long had this thing been on its own? It seemed to be in so much… But she noticed that he looked rather well groomed. And definitely well fed by how big he was. Still… Her eyes looked back down to his leg. There was no way she could just leave it here without knowing where its owner was.

But she couldn't bring it back with her. The queen would probably never allow it. But just to leave it here to die? She couldn't do that either... Surely someone had to be around. Maybe she could wait here until its owner returned?

As Prowl fussed over what to do with the huge dog, Jazz slowly and quietly came towards them. He had pulled out his dagger, gripping it tightly as he forced himself forward. Primus, he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to kill her. Prowl didn't deserve this. She was a good woman, selfless and always willing to help another and not complain. And yet, here he was, ready to murder her all because of a vain queen's whim.

But he had to. He had to protect his brothers and if that meant he had to kill Prowl... then he would do it. For them. To protect them and please Flux and to keep her away from the only family he had left.

As Jazz recited his mantra over and over again in his head, he failed to notice the dog had noticed him and the blade in his hand.  And this dog, having seen enough humans with that knife do bad things with it, reacted in the only way it knew how.

Curling back its teeth, the dog snarled, nearly throwing Prowl back.

“It's alright..." But she did not know what she had done to startle the poor dog, "Jazz, maybe you should grab the-!"

She turned around, eyes widening in a mix of shock and terror as she saw Jazz come toward her, his knife raised. Raised to kill. And aimed right for her.

“J-Jazz?”

He didn’t reply. He just came closer, raising it higher.

“Jazz, what are you doing?!”

Pure terror took over her. She found herself only able to press back into the dog, who just started growling more and more, ready to pounce and fight despite its injuries. What was he doing? A knife, aimed at her?! Primus, what was happening?!

Jazz could hear his own heartbeat. His head pounded. His chest tightened up. There was a deafening ringing in his ears as he locked eyes with Prowl. His good friend. His best friend. Terrified and confused and not sure what was going on as she looked at him as if he were some sort of monster. He wasn’t. He was her friend… and he was doing this for his brothers. Surely she would understand. She would…

His hand started to shake. Maybe she would understand. Maybe she would forgive him in the afterlife. But what if people found out she was killed? By him? What would people think about him? And his brothers – what would they say? They liked Prowl too. They wouldn’t forgive him, even with his reason being to protect him.  
  
And what if even after Prowl knew the truth… Would she really forgive him? And could he really forgive himself?

The dagger fell from his hand as a sob escaped his throat. Prowl watched, still frightened and confused, as Jazz sunk to his hands and knees and began to sob. She glanced at the dog she was leaning against, who was still growling at the huntsman, before turning back.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. “P-Primus, I-I-I’m so sorry…”

“Ja-Jazz, what’s-?”

He grabbed the hem of her dress, gripping it tightly as his hands shook. She leaned back a bit in fright, but he did nothing more than sob. Seeing that his dagger was nowhere close to his hands, Prowl reached up and gently rested a hand on his head. The man flinched back as another sob escaped his throat.

“I-I’m sorry… I-I can’t do it, I can’t…”

“Jazz, I-I don’t understand. What… What’s wrong?”

Jazz couldn’t reply for a few moments, still sobbing as he tried to collect his bearings. He couldn’t stay silent. He had to tell Prowl. To warn her. To have her get somewhere safe before the queen found out and sent someone else to kill her! Someone who would have no issue making her death painful and slow…

He wiped the tears from his eyes, trying to calm down his sobs as he looked up at the princess. She still stared at him, confused and frightened, but concern lingered in her eyes. Primus, even after he had done something like that, she still treated him like a friend…

“Please…”

“Jazz, what-?”

“You need to run.”

Prowl’s eyes widened, her hand flinching away from his head. Run? Run where? What was he talking about him? What was going on?!

“But why-?”

“The Queen ordered me to kill you.” 

Her eyes widened. The Queen? She… She wanted to kill her? A wave of horror and confusion came over her, bringing her hand back to her side. She knew Flux never liked her, but this… this was something she never could have fathomed. 

“My… stepmother-?”

“She’s out of her mind. She wanted me to kill you… Put your heart in a box as proof!”

He suddenly grabbed her dress again, making Prowl gasp. The dog behind her growled, snapping its teeth, but Prowl moved a hand to keep the beast steady. Jazz was trying to warn her; she didn’t need this creature to hurt him and cause even more trouble.

“She threatened to hurt my brothers… I had no choice. B-But when I saw you-! I-I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it…”

Primus, her stepmother truly was evil. She threatened to hurt Sideswipe and Sunstreaker if Jazz didn’t… kill her? Though she couldn’t understand why Flux hated her so much. Whatever had she done? It had been one thing to demote her to working as a scullery maid, but to want her dead? Now of all times?

“Run,” he begged. “Please, Prowl… You have to run-!”

“But-!”

“Run! Before she finds you and kills you herself!”

Prowl didn’t know what else to do. This wasn’t some sick joke. This wasn’t something she could debate. But where could she go? Where could she run? She had no other living family, no friends she could run to and find sanctuary. She had nothing on her, only the clothes on her back and the little pouch she had brought with her. It would be foolish to just run without a plan!

“RUN, DAMN IT!”

She could only give Jazz a spare glance, his face wrapped with desperation, before she took off running towards the forest. It wasn’t rational or a smart move at all, but with Jazz’s pleads and screams ringing in her ears, it was all she could do. Running as fast as she could, as far as she could, even though she had no idea where she could even go.

But she knew she had to get out of here. Far away as possible, somewhere her stepmother would never be able to find her. She had to run some place far away, where no one would ever be able to find her, where Flux couldn’t send anyone else after her… She just hoped her legs would be able to carry her.


	3. Chapter 3

Scrapper wiped the sweat from his brow as he blew his whistle again. He waited a few more seconds before giving a rough sigh and continuing forward.

This was all Mixmaster’s fault. Two nights ago, he and his younger brothers had come back from a great hunt, having taken down a massive bear that had been causing problems in a couple of the nearby villages. But it seemed that Mixmaster was far too eager to eat that he didn’t properly tie up Snarl. So when they woke up yesterday morning, he was gone and nowhere to be found.

They had split up to cover more ground. Yesterday they couldn’t find any trace of him. Today, Scrapper and Long Haul and Mixmaster went out to continue searching the woods while Bonecrusher and Scavenger went to the villages to see if maybe Snarl had wandered over there. And if he did, they prayed he didn’t attack anyone or no one attacked him…

Scrapper also hoped the others were having more luck than he was. Seriously, how hard was it to find a Caucasian Shepherd? Considering how big Snarl was, it should have been easier to find him. But instead, he had been out here for nearly three hours today and there was still no sign of him.

He hoped Snarl hadn’t gotten himself hurt… While he was a tough one, he certainly wasn’t invincible. He might have gone off and tried to track down another big animal by himself. Scrapper didn’t doubt his dog’s strength, but he could still get hurt if he wasn’t careful.

Scrapper turned down a path that lead to a denser woodland area. It wasn’t familiar, but perhaps Snarl could have gone down this way? He did like exploring whenever he or his brothers took him on walks or runs for some exercise… Giving it a chance, he blew the whistle again.

A few moments of silence past before he heard a faint “bwroof!” in the distance. Perking up, he blew the whistle again. Another “bwroof!” came from his left, this one louder than the first. He quickly made his way towards the sounds, a wave of relief coming over him. Thank Primus, Snarl was all right… Still, he was going to beat Mixmaster over the head a couple hundred times for this. Seriously, how could he have let Snarl get loose?! He only had one job to do when they got back and he couldn’t even do it correctly…

“Snarl!” he called out.

Another bark answered him, this one much clearer than before. With a sigh of relief, he pushed past some thick branches that were in the way, stepping over some low bushes that came up to his knees. Still, he could see Snarl’s head, the dog panting in his direction. And thank Primus, he looked all right…

But when he stepped into the small clearing, he wasn’t expecting to see Snarl standing guard over an unconscious young woman. The skirt part of her incredibly expensive-looking dress was completely dirty and it looked like the lower part of it had been torn by branches. She had a small pack lying next to her and she looked incredibly pale. Perhaps even a little sick…

He looked to Snarl, who was just panting and looking up at him. Strange… Snarl normally wasn’t very aggressive towards women, but he had never before become so warmed up to a stranger that he would stand guard over them. Then Scrapper’s eyes fell to one of his paws, seeing that it had been bandaged up and cared for.

Oh… That made much more sense. With a small sigh, he reached down and patted his head.

“Good boy.”

Snarl only answered him with another “bwroof!”

Scrapper looked to the young woman before a giving a heavy sigh. Carefully, he picked the unconscious woman up and lifted her up into his chest. She was a little cold and seemed rather thin… Definitely not from around these parts. Anyone who lived up in the mountains should have had much more muscle and fat on them. This woman was lucky it was early summer.

“Come on… Let’s go home, Snarl.”

Another bark answered him. And once he started to carry the woman back to their home, Snarl obediently followed. He would have to figure out a way to break this to his brothers… Not that they would necessarily protest. They just would be stunned to see a woman in their house, a beautiful one on top of that.

Though what they were supposed to do with her, he had no idea. He would have to figure it out when he got home. 

* * *

Bonecrusher and Scavenger met up after going through the various villages. The sun had started setting, so they had decided to head back home after having no luck in finding Snarl. In fact, no one in the village had even seen a dog like him. Which meant he and Scavenger just went on a wild goose chase for nothing.

He swore to Primus; he was going to kick Mixmaster’s ass when they got home. All he had wanted to do was kickback and relax after a damn good hunt that would feed them for weeks. Instead, he had to search for their dog because Mixmaster was an idiot and didn’t tie him up properly. Seriously, he had one fucking job and couldn’t even do that right.

“Maybe one of the others found him?” Scavenger said, hoping to calm down his brother’s silent rage.

“If they didn’t, I’m gonna punch Mixmaster in the face because we’ll have to do this bullshit again tomorrow.”

Scavenger couldn’t reply since he knew it was true… None of them wanted to have to keep looking, but they were still worried about Snarl. They had bought him when he was just a puppy, the runt of the litter, and they had raised him into the massive, hulking dog he was today. They didn’t want anything to happen to him… He may have been full grown, but he was still so young. Only three and he still had many more years on him, so long as they took care of him properly.

They came up to the path that lead up to their cabin. But just as they came up to the path, they ran into Mixmaster and Long Haul. Neither had Snarl following behind them. Bonecrusher frowned, his glare directed at Mixmaster, who couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Mixmaster, I swear-!”

“H-Hey, maybe Scrapper found him!” he protested, holding up his hands in self-defense. He was tired of defending himself. Yes, he knew he had messed up, but this wasn’t the first time Snarl had gotten lost. They would find him again, they just had to keep looking.

“And if not?” Long Haul asked, clearly annoyed at the fact that their beloved dog was out there somewhere, possibly hurt or worse. “He might still be out there because of you.”

“… He’s probably-!”

“He’s probably gone and it’s all your fault!” Bonecrusher growled, shoving him back. “Shit, why can’t you just do one fucking thing-?!”

Long Haul and Scavenger quickly ran over to him and held him back, pulling him away from the other. While they were more on Bonecrusher’s side in this entire affair, they didn’t want to kill each other over it. Scrapper would have been furious and fighting wasn’t going to bring Snarl home. They just had to keep looking and hope nothing else had gotten to the dog…

Bonecrusher calmed down after a few moments, roughly shrugging off his brothers. No one said anything else, quietly walking back up the path towards the cottage. Mixmaster lingered in the back, rubbing his neck as he kept his eyes on the ground. He did feel bad about all of this… Maybe he would go out again after he had something to eat. Just take a quick look around before going to bed. Hell, maybe he would even get up early…

After a few more minutes of silence, the brothers came closer to their house. But they were surprised to see the lights on and smoke coming from the chimney. Scrapper was already home? Had they lost track of time more than they thought? No... No, that couldn't have been it. The sun was still out, though it was starting to set a little faster now.

The group hurried up the slope, Mixmaster even rushing past them. Had he been right? Had Scrapper found him? Was that why he was home earlier than they had agreed on? Maybe that was why he was cooking too, to give Snarl something to eat.

But no one said anything, quickly rushing in through the door one by one before Scavenger closed the door behind him. Scrapper had his back turned to them, cooking a pot of something above the fireplace. And sure enough, Snarl was sitting on the floor behind him, chewing on a bone.

When the door had shut, the dog paused and looked up to see his masters’ stunned faces. And all he could say in response was a soft "Bwroof!" before going back to chewing his bone. 

"Snarl!" Scavenger cried, rushing towards him alongside Bonecrusher. "You're okay!" 

Long Haul just ran his fingers through his hair, moving over to look over Snarl and make sure he was okay too. And when he saw his tail wag happily at being petted by his other two brothers, Long Haul rubbed his back alongside them.

Mixmaster let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank fuck, you found him," he said, shaking his head as he walked over to Scrapper. "Where was he? We had looked everywhere!"

Scrapper quickly shushed them all, putting his finger to his lips. The brothers quickly quieted down, though more out of shock than anything else. Since when did Scrapper ever shush them as if they were little kids? They were grown men all living in a house together; they were going to get loud, especially when their dog was home safe and sound!

"What's the problem, Scrapper?  We thought Snarl was gone for-"

"Will you please keep it down?!" Scrapper interrupted Bonecrusher as the room fell silent sans Snarl's panting, "Just... keep quiet for maybe two minutes, would you?"

Surprisingly, his angry voice worked for once with his younger brothers.  Not to say that it didn’t worked in extreme situations, but this wasn’t exactly a bad situation. Still, Scrapper was just glad it worked this time. He needed to get them calm and explain that not only were they hosting an unexpected guest, but that it was a young woman. A young woman who clearly was not from the woods and was now in the same house with five unknown men.

He glanced up the stairs that lead to the door to their room. She was currently sleeping in his bed, and he had a feeling that she would wake up soon. He didn’t have any idea how long she had been unconscious, but still…

Clearing his throat, he turned back to his brothers and gestured to their room. “Snarl wasn’t alone when I found him.”

Mixmaster titled his head. “What do you mean?”

“See his paw?”

The four brothers turned back to look at Snarl. Scavenger gently lifted up his front left paw to see that there was a fresh bandaged wrapped around it.

“I changed the bandage when we got back home, but before, it was wrapped up by someone else… And Snarl had been with her when I found him. She was unconscious so I brought her here-”

“Wait.” Bonecrusher stood up, giving him a look as if he didn’t hear him correctly. “You brought a woman here?”

“She was unconscious and in bad shape. Besides, she took care of Snarl enough to the point where he felt the need to watch over her. I wasn’t going to leave her there.”

They couldn’t really retort that. They would have probably done the same thing… After all, it would have been cruel to leave someone out to die after they took care of their dog. But still… to bring a woman here? When there were five grown men in one house? That just screamed “bad idea.” Not that they would do anything, but surely she would have been terrified or thought they were going to do something bad…

Snarl suddenly stood up and gave a small bark. The brothers all turned to the giant dog, who gave another bark before trotting over to the stairway.

“Shit…” Scrapper quickly handed the ladle he was using to Mixmaster, pushing past him to follow Snarl. But he paused just as he reached the stairs, turning back his brothers and glaring at them. “None of you follow me. And when I come out, just sit there and look as non-threatening as possible. Don’t even say anything. Just shut up and sit.”

“But-!”

“ _Shut up and sit down_.”

Bonecrusher stilled his tongue, glaring at his older brother but eventually complying. When Scrapper saw the others were doing the same, he headed up the stairs. Snarl was already by the door, whimpering and clawing at it. With a small huff, Scrapper walked over to it and gently turned the knob. It was enough for Snarl to push the door open and prance into the room.

He stayed hidden behind the wall, only peeking in to see that the young woman was slowly sitting up in a bit of a daze. She gave a small yelp when Snarl suddenly jumped up on the bed, no doubt smothering her with his weight. He almost went it to scold the beast when he saw her hands come up to pet his face.

“Oh… Oh, it’s you…”

A breath of relief escaped him as he watched the beautiful girl pet Snarl, who gave a couple licks to her face before nuzzling his head against her. She gave a soft laugh and thankfully wasn’t bothered by the overly affection dog. Primus, he had never seen Snarl like this before… Yes, he was generally a lot more sociable with women, but he was never this friendly. He was curious as to what she had done to make Snarl like her so much…

“Do you know where I am?” she asked him. “Is this your master’s home?”

All right, at least she seemed somewhat aware of her surroundings… And she probably wanted answers sooner than later. The last thing he wanted was for her to think that she had been kidnapped.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly moved into the doorway and knocked on the door to alert her to his presence. She perked up a bit as he stepped into the room. Unsurprisingly, she shrunk back, holding Snarl a little closer to her as if he were a shield.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” he said gently. He didn’t enter the room, only standing by the door frame so there was plenty of distance between them. “I found you passed out in the woods… Snarl was with you the entire time. I think he likes you.”

She didn’t respond, but he did notice her shoulders had visibly relaxed. Maybe it was because she felt she could trust Snarl more than anything.

“My name’s Scrapper,” he said when she continued to remain quiet. “I wasn’t sure what to do, so I brought you back to my house… I don’t know how long you’ve unconscious for. You’ve been sleeping here for about an hour and a half.”

“So it’s just you and Snarl who live here?”

“… Well, no, not exactly.”

“A wife?”

“… Four younger brothers. We’re hunters.”

He wasn’t surprised to see an apprehensive look fall upon her face. She had released Snarl, who jumped off the bed and waited patiently for her to get up. Scrapper ran his hand through his hair as he tried to figure out how to explain to this beautiful young woman that she was perfectly safe here without seeming like some sort of big liar.

Hell, if he were to look at the situation from outside perspective, this did seem incredibly suspicious. Here was this woman, young and beautiful who had been lost in the woods, who was brought to a stranger’s home while she was unconscious, and the house was occupied by five grown adult hunters with their dog.

Maybe he should just change the subject. Just help her relax a bit more and get her mind off the face she was in a house full of men that wouldn’t hurt her and a huge dog that had gotten attached.

“Are you hungry?”

She blinked, a look of confusion coming over her face.

He pointed over his shoulder and down the stairs. “I… I made some supper. I figured you would be hungry… I-I can bring it here, if you’d prefer. My brothers are home and I get why you wouldn’t want to…”

Prowl studied over the man for a few moments, sparing a glance at the dog by her bedside. She supposed she shouldn’t worry too much. Snarl seemed to like her and seemed to be a gentle, protective animal… If this man wanted to do something to her, his dog wouldn’t have been so friendly. If he was brought up like this, surely his owners had to be trustworthy people.

Not to mention Scrapper could have just have left her in the woods to die. It certainly would have been easier for him in the long run.

“No…” She slowly rose from the bed, much to Snarl’s excitement. “I’ll join you downstairs. And I must thank you for bringing me here.”

“No, no… It’s fine.”

He watched as she slowly walked over towards him, though she kept a hand rested on Snarl as he led her to his master. When she said nothing else, he turned away and headed back down the stairs. His brothers were eyeing him until the woman came out into the open. Then they turned to her, eyes wide and mouths falling open in slight shock.

Great, now they were going to drooling over a pretty woman. He hoped they didn’t say something stupid and make her completely uncomfortable… But when it came his brothers, things were always up in the air.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was incredibly awkward for the five brothers. They all sat at the table silently, unable to look at each other as they ate. They all couldn’t help but to glance over at their guest, who definitely didn’t eat like a normal person. Not that there was anything wrong with how she ate, it was just…

Incredibly proper and formal. When she had sat down, she placed the napkin over her lap. And the way she held her spoon… It was way different. Proper etiquette they only remembered people talking about when they were younger. They all thought it had been dumb and obviously didn’t care of pay attention to what the “proper way” of eating way. Not to mention they lived in the mountains. Why did they need to learn dining etiquette?

Now they wished they had. There this woman was, eating her soup and bread daintily with the manners of some sort of maiden. Granted, the dress she was wearing was pretty nice, minus the tatters and tears at the bottom. Not to mention that she was incredibly beautiful and the last thing they wanted was to look like complete slobs. So they ate as slowly and carefully as they could, trying to make themselves look like something other than savages.

Then the woman suddenly asked, “Are you always so quiet during meals?”

The men glanced between each other before finally looking to Scrapper. After all, the man had said to keep quiet; they didn’t want to say anything to upset or potentially offend the woman. The eldest was much better at talking out of a situation.

So clearing his throat, he said, “We just didn’t want to offend you, Miss.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. You’re the one who graciously opened your home to me. I will not judge you for any dining behavior.”

The five brothers glanced at each other. She said that, but… They just couldn’t. She may not say anything about it, but she would definitely think that they were barbarians or slobs or something. Hell, it wouldn’t have surprised them if she thought that they were going to do something to her if she let her guard down. She never said it, but it would have made sense if that were true.

She was a beautiful young woman, probably a noble’s daughter of some sort. Though why she was all the way out here, they didn’t really understand. The nearest noble manor was at least four miles from the mountains. Had she gotten lost? Or perhaps her and her family had been on a hike and she fell from a higher cliff? The cliffs were known to crumble under too much weight.

“Um-Um!”

The sudden cry caused her to turn her head, eyes falling to Scavenger. He blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to find his voice again. Primus, she was so pretty, like a painting. It was hard to believe someone as beautiful as this woman was in his house!

But he managed to clear his throat and stammer, “Th-Thank you, Miss. F-For… For taking care of Snarl.”

She looked to the large dog who was currently sitting by the fire, tail wagging happily when their eyes met. She smiled before turning to the men at the table. “It was nothing. He was injured when I found him and I couldn’t leave him there. Besides, he helped me too.”

“H-He did-?”

“He’s been keeping me company for over a day now.”

The five brothers looked between each other. So that was why Snarl had been missing… He had been with this woman. Probably protecting her as thanks for patching up his leg. Or she had been keeping on eye on him since he had been injured, they couldn’t have been too sure. Regardless, Snarl had been lucky… And this woman had been lucky too.

“Where did you find him?” Long Haul asked.

“By the valley.”

Scrapper’s eyes widened. The valley? No wonder they couldn’t find him! Still, how did he get all the way over there? And if this woman found him there… He looked over her dress again. So he had been right. She was from a richer family, brought a noble from the city. He parents must have been worried to death about her, if she had been missing for two days…

He would have to escort her back tomorrow. And pray her family didn’t think he kidnapped her and somehow get him executed. It seemed like a bit of a stretch, but nobles never had the best views on commoners or mountain men. He was honestly surprised this woman was acting so polite. Either she truly didn’t mind their company or she was a brilliant liar.

Taking a sip from his cup, he turned to her. “I can take you back home tomorrow, Miss. I’m sure your family is worried about you.”

She suddenly fell silent, her eyes growing dark. She even put down her fork. The brothers looked between each other again, confused. Had Scrapper said something wrong? They would have figured she wanted to go back home. It wasn’t like most women wanted to stay in a house full of grown men and their dog.

She looked between them all before glancing back at Snarl. Then she sighed and shook her head, moving to pick up her fork and knife. “I cannot return.”

Mixmaster looked bewildered. “Huh?”

“Wh-What do you mean?”  Scavenger asked.

“My stepmother wishes me dead,” she said simply, not even acknowledging the brothers’ stunned faces. “She tried to have our huntsman kill me, but he warned me and told me to run. Snarl came with and has protected me since.”

The five of them looked among each other. No one was sure how to even respond to that. Who the hell would want their own daughter dead?! Yeah, technically stepdaughter, but still… What kind of woman would even do something like that? But they couldn’t say anything and just watched her take a few more bites before she noticed their staring.

She sent down her knife and fork again, wiping her mouth with her napkin. “Don’t worry, my stepmother has no idea where I am. She won’t find this place.”

“That’s not-!”

“Though I should take my leave soon,” she said, moving to stand up. “I don’t want to intrude or even put any of your in danger. Thank you for your hospitality-”

“Wait!”

Everyone stopped, turning to Scavenger, who had stood up. He flinched back when all eyes were on him, but he stood his ground. He had to. They couldn’t just let this poor woman go out into the woods again. She wouldn’t have Snarl with her! And there were bears and wolves out there… She would survive by herself.

“Scavenger, what-?”

“Y-You could stay here,” he blurted out. “I-It’s too dangerous for you to go out by yourself.”

“Scavenger!” Scrapper snapped, seeing the woman just staring at his youngest brother with wide eyes. “I-I’m so sorry, Miss, Scavenger – he’s just worried, he doesn’t mean-!”

“You know, he’s got a point, Scrapper,” Long Haul said. Then he turned to the woman, who had stepped away from the table. “You won’t survive out in the mountains alone. The nights are cold and the days are hot. There are a lot of predators too… We could escort you out of the mountains, but there are still wolves running around outside of them.”

“Stop scaring her,” the eldest growled. “And stop trying to force her to stay!”

By this point, Mixmaster and Bonecrusher were trying to join in the argument too, leaving the woman visibly stunned. She looked back to the dog, who had gotten up and made his way over to her. He didn’t do much; he merely moved himself in between her and the growing argument before lying down at her feet.

She glanced at the dog before looking back to the arguing brothers. She supposed they had a point… The only reason why she was even alive right now was because of Snarl. Without him, she would have probably been attacked by a hungry predator. And she didn’t know how to survive in the wild. She didn’t even have any money to pay for protection or meals or anything of the sort. Staying here was probably her best chance at survival.

And judging by the way these men were acting, she highly doubted that they had an intention to hurt her. They would have done so already and their dog probably wouldn’t have been as friendly as he was. She would be safe here and far from her stepmother as she could get.

“Pardon me?”

The arguing quickly stopped as they turned to look at her.

“I have no money,” she said, bowing politely. “So I have nothing to give you in return for shelter. But if you would allow to stay here, even for a little while, I promise I won’t be a burden.”

Scrapper looked stunned. Primus, she actually wanted to stay? In a house full of strange men? No, they would never hurt her, not in a million years, but… Surely a young noblewoman like herself wouldn’t want to be alone with a bunch of common hunters.

“You don’t have to pay us,” Long Haul suddenly said, coming up in front of him. “You helped Snarl out… And he looks like he would be sad if you left.”

They glanced down at the dog, who was still by her feet, his tail wagging.

“So you’re going to stay?” Bonecrusher asked.

“If you would allow it, I would be forever grateful.”

The four brothers all looked to Scrapper now. Ultimately, it was up to him… though if he tried to argue, they would fight him on it. They couldn’t just cast out this beautiful woman into the night. Not after she had helped Snarl. Besides, if the mountains didn’t kill her, maybe her stepmother would find she was alive and try to kill her again/ Scrapper knew that too. He didn’t want that. This woman seemed like a good person. He didn’t want something to happen to her, especially if they could have stopped it.

With a heavy huff, he extended his hand to her. “I’m Scrapper,” he finally said, giving a small bow. Might as well finally introduce themselves if they were going to be living together for a while. “These are my brothers… Long Haul, Bonecrusher, Mixmaster, and Scavenger. And you’re welcomed to stay as long as you need to.”

She took his hand. “Thank you. And my name is Prowl.”

That made him pause. Prowl… Wait, her dress. Her mannerisms. Her pale skin and black hair and-!

“… Princess Prowl?”

She nodded.

All the brothers jumped back, even Scrapper as he released her hand to just stare at her. But she didn’t seem to notice or mind, just giving a polite smile before she kneeled down in front of Snarl. Primus… Scrapper looked back at his brothers, who were just as stunned as he was as they watched their dog nuzzle into Prowl’s hand.

No wonder she seemed to polite and beautiful. She was Princess Prowl, nicknamed Snow White by the kingdom. They all hated the queen, but everyone was aware of what a good person Prowl was. There had even been rumors of people planning to assassinate Queen Flux just to put Prowl on the throne.

Was that why her stepmother was trying to kill her? Had the evil witch found out that the people adored the princess more than they ever would her? No one would put it pass the queen… And now they were suddenly the ones taking care of and essentially hiding the princess.

They were definitely going to have to be careful from now on.  


End file.
